Plan Commission Meeting — Minutes

TOWN OF ROME PLAN COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING AND REGULAR MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2026 4:00 p.m. 1. Call to Order In the absence of the Chairman, the meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m. by Commissioner Jerry Wiessinger. 2. Roll Call Present: William Kappel, Heather Dalton, Bruce Hoeppner and Jerry Wiessinger Excused: Paul Janczak, Vito Giardino and Chairman Tim Reppen Also present: Zoning Administrator, Emily Arndt and Deputy Clerk/Treasurer, Taylor Owczynsky 3. Certify Posting of Meeting Taylor Owczynsky certified that on, Wednesday, May 27, 2026 the agenda for the Town of Rome Plan Commission meeting for Tuesday, June 9, 2026 was posted at the following locations: Rome Town Hall 10:48 a.m. Kwik Trip, LLC 10:52 a.m. Nekoosa Port Edwards State Bank 11:10 a.m. Legal notice published in Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune May 26, 2026 & June 2, 2026 4. Approve Agenda Motion by Kappel/Dalton to approve the agenda. Motion carried. 5. Citizen Comments – During the Citizen Comment period of the agenda the Plan Commission committee welcomes comments from any town resident, not a member of the Commission, on any item not on the agenda. Please know that pursuant to State law the Commission cannot engage in conversation with you but may ask questions. The Commission may refer the item to staff, a standing committee or a future Plan Commission agenda for discussion and action. Each person wishing to speak will have up to 3 minutes to speak. Speakers are asked to submit a card to the Chair providing their name, address and topic for discussion The Commission will also take comment from the public on agenda items as called by the Chair, but not during Citizen Comment. Please note that once the Commission begins discussion on an agenda item no further comment will be allowed from the public on that issue Town of Rome Nekoosa, WI 54457 www.romewi.gov No Citizen Comments Received. NO ACTION CONTEMPLATED POSSIBLE REFERAL TO FUTURE AGENDA: 6. Information Updates, Recent Correspondences, Current Events, and Announcements No updates given. 7. Open Public Hearing a. Consideration of proposed amendments to Ordinance – Article XXX Entitled “Wellhead Protection District” Chairman Carl Hasdal explained what the Wellhead Protection is and that it would protect anything that may be hazardous to our wells. He explained that this should have been put in place years ago and that this is basically a protection for all of the municipal wells in the Town. This would restrict what can be built over the wells or placed over them. b. Consideration of proposed amendments to Section 360-9 Of the Zoning Code Entitled “Use Regulations”, Section 360-35 Of the Zoning Code Entitled “Permitted Uses”, Section 360-60 Of the Zoning Code Entitled “Permitted Uses”, Section 360-83 Of the Zoning Code Entitled “Permitted Uses”, Section 360-87 Of the Zoning Code Entitled “Permitted Uses”, Section 360- 62 Of the Zoning Code Entitled Height, Setbacks, Area and Other Requirements Zoning Administrator, Emily Arndt explained that the proposed ordinance amendment addressing camping regulations can be found in the packet. She explained that the only date that was changed was instead of the camping season starting on the 15th of April, it would be the 2nd Saturday of April. The purpose of this ordinance amendment is to basically “clean up” the language. 8. Close Public Hearing Motion by Kappel/Hoeppner to close the Public Hearing. Motion carried. DISCUSS AND POSSIBLE ACTION ON THE FOLLOWING ITEMS: 9. Discussion and possible action – Approval of the May 12, 2026 meeting minutes. Motion by Kappel/Dalton to approve the May 12, 2026 meeting minutes. Motion carried with one change on page 1. Commissioner Bruce Hoeppner’s name is listed as absent and as present. Motion to include the striking his name as present. 10. Discussion and possible action - Recommendation to the Town Board; Consideration of the proposed amendment to Ordinance – Article XXX Entitled “Wellhead Protection District” Zoning Administrator, Emily Arndt explained that the proposed ordinance amendment for the Wellhead Protection District can be found in the packet. The Director of Public Works, Cody Knoblock reiterated that this is something that should have been put into place years ago. Our sandy aquafer makes us extremely susceptible to potential outside contaminants that can affect our water quality. This ordinance would protect municipal wells as well as private wells in those areas. The Town has two (2) public wells Kappel has one correction to the document on § 360-154B(8). Requested to change the number in “Appearance” from 100 to 1,000 feet. Motion by Hoeppner/Dalton to recommend approval of this ordinance to the Town Board. Motion carried. 11. Discussion and possible action – Recommendation to the Town Board; Consideration of the proposed amendments to Section 360-9 Of The Zoning Code Entitled “Use Regulations”, Section 360-35 Of The Zoning Code Entitled “Permitted Uses”, Section 360-60 Of The Zoning Code Entitled “Permitted Uses”, Section 360-83 Of The Zoning Code Entitled “Permitted Uses”, Section 360-87 Of The Zoning Code Entitled “Permitted Uses”, Section 360-62 Of The Zoning Code Entitled Height, Setbacks, Area And Other Requirements Zoning Administrator, Emily Arndt explained that the purpose of the ordinance amendment is simply to “clean up” the ordinance. The updated camping season would be from the 2nd Saturday of April thru November 30th. Instead of listing each district separately, the camping regulations would now all be in one place. Updates made to the off-season camping season include updating the dates to be December 1st through the 2nd Friday in April. The camping limit was updated to allow camping during the off- season for up to 21 days, with striking the limitation of only 2 occurrences, now it is just 21 days cumulative. The time limit between guest stays was relaxed from 15 days to 10 days. The verbiage stating that all camping permits must be displayed was added back into the ordinance, as it used to be. Motion by Hoeppner/Dalton to recommend approval of the ordinance amendment to the Town Board. Motion carried. DATES AND ITEMS FOR FUTURE AGENDA/MEETINGS 12. Next agenda items - Currently nothing to add right now, but there will be a few items that build themselves out. 13. Next meeting date and time July 14, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. Rome Municipal Building. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Kappel/Hoeppner to adjourn at 4:22 pm. Motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Taylor Owczynsky Taylor Owczynsky Deputy Clerk/Treasurer